L5r - scroll 03 - The Crane (29 page)

"If this is true—and I swear in my soul that it cannot be—then I will perform the emperor's duty." Toshimoko handed the letter back, his mind racing with thoughts.

Yokatsu's eyes narrowed, testing Toshimoko's endurance.

The sensei continued with anger. "I am a samurai. My soul is my own. If I am to die in the emperor's service, so be it. But I will not turn my back on that duty, even for my own clan." More softly, he continued, "Even . . . for my own student." Toshimoko's face was pale, his legs shaking beneath the blackened hakima pants.

"The emperor's hand is strong once more," Yokatsu whispered, watching the anguish fade as Toshimoko recovered his on, the face of a samurai—emotionless, stoic, and firm. "And we shall ally with him."

"No." The word was sharp, harsh. "The Emerald Champion did not request your clan's alliance." The aged sensei turned canny eyes to his opponent, placing the final stone. "The Emerald Champion will be pawn to no one, not even the allies of the Crane."

Surprised, Yokatsu raised a thick eyebrow. "Then what of the Crane, and the Crab that fight them?"

"As the hand of the emperor, I could command your troops to intervene."

The Unicorn Champion cawed a sharp laugh. "Command? You do not have the men to command anything, Toshimoko-sama."

"No," the sensei said with a faint smile. "But neither can you claim an alliance with the emperor's hand. Such an alliance would benefit you in the court of Otosan Uchi, whether I am Crane or Dragon or Crab."

Smiling, Yokatsu thumped his riding crop against the wooden beams of the fence. "Well played, Emerald Champion."

"Send your troops to Beiden Pass. Harry the Crab and drive them south. In exchange, my magistrates and I will grant you passage through the empire, without toll and without clan permissions. Six months of free travel, Yokatsu— such a boon could remove the only barrier that prevents your cavalry from having true power in the empire."

"Free passage through the empire . . ." Shinjo Yokatsu murmured. Toshimoko could tell the Unicorn was tempted. The man's untrained face contorted, and his eyebrows worked up and down like flying birds.

"So long as your first journey," he said emphatically, "is to enforce your control over Beiden Pass, and that you drive through it toward the lands of the Crab."

"An alliance with the Crane, paid for by the Emerald Champion?"

Toshimoko smiled grimly. "Consider it my last service to the house that gave me birth. When I leave here, I travel home—not to give the Crane the strength of the Emerald Magistrates that follow me, but to determine the truth of the accusations you have shown me. To face Hoturi, and if he has fallen to the Dark One, to see him die beneath my blade." The words were difficult to say, but they held the ring of truth. Toshimoko's face did not betray the tortured emotions that burned within him.

Nodding slowly, Yokatsu bowed to the champion of the emperor. "We leave in the morning; you for the provinces of the Crane, and the Unicorn for Beiden Pass. With luck, Toshimoko-sama, we shall not meet again."

Bowing in return, Toshimoko listened to Wayu's cries of pride in the distant practice field. "May the Seven Fortunes bless us both, my friend." With that, the sensei turned and strode back toward the palace of the Unicorn, leaving Yokatsu alone with his horses and the dying sun.

the fall of honor

Uji stood on a hillock and stared moodily at the gray southern skies. Perhaps it would snow and the winter would finally come. In the distance, the clouds blew, their swollen bellies laced with bitter winds. Kyuden Kakita was not far. Soon Uji and his men would reach the safety of the fortress. He would have traded all the dry nights and cold weeks of autumn for a single day of snow. Even if it were brief, snow would have prevented the Lion from attacking Kyuden Doji for at least two months—more if the winter were heavy. The time would surely be enough for Doji Hoturi to move his gathering army before the Matsu could attack. Then, with the northern provinces safe, Hoturi could bring his armies to Kyuden Kakita and protect them from the Crab.

Uji was fifteen days out from Kyuden Kakita, his feet crunching through the thin

layer of frost that spread across the ground. Fifteen days, and his men would reach the tall stone walls and warm fires of home. Seven winters as a Crane general had taught him how to encourage his troops through the cold nights and keep them marching through the short winter days.

His lieutenant, Daidoji Ritenu, paced beside him with the long steps of a jungle cat. Ritenu's narrowed eyes showed only anger at being withdrawn from their fights against the Matsu, but the young man was too disciplined to utter a word of disapproval. He knew the Crab were a greater threat—one that could not be stopped by the light snows of the south lands. While the Lion would freeze, trapped in ruined Sayo Castle, the Crab would take the villages of the Crane and warm themselves inside Crane huts—or worse, Crane palaces.

On the road to the south, a rider approached, his shaggy pony breathing great steaming trails of mist. The rider bore Kakita colors and did not appear to have rested in many days. The pony's steps were shaking, its weary body nearly ready to collapse. As the horse approached Uji, its rider swung down to the ground, barely keeping his feet beneath him. He bowed to Uji, trying not to keep his hand on the horse's saddle for balance. Despite his obvious weariness, the man was determined to keep his dignity.

Uji formally returned the bow, giving respect to the young man's house. The soldier's face was haggard. Ready for the worse, Uji squared his shoulders.

"My lord Uji-sama," the messenger said, "there is grave news."

"Speak."

"The Crab are marching east from Beiden Pass."

"What?" Stunned, Uji reached to steady himself on the pony's warm neck. A wave of sick dread passed through him. "Tell me of the battle at the pass. What has occurred that the Crab march on us so early?"

"The Crab taken Beiden Pass, my lord. They seek provisions in order to hold the pass. The closest source of those supplies is Kyuden Kakita." The rider's words were rushed, spilling over each other with anguish and lack of sleep. "A few days past, the armies of the Unicorn marched to Beiden Pass and joined To-turi's legions there. Even now, a Unicorn contingent chases the Crab, beating them when they camp. But without the force of the Dragon and the walls of the pass to give them the advantage, the Unicorn are little more than an annoyance to Kisada's great army."

"Damn," Uji swore, turning to his lieutenant. "Ritenu, we have fewer than ten days to make Kyuden Kakita. Can the men do it?"

Stuttering in surprise, Ritenu said, "I think so, Uji-sama, but the march will be difficult."

Uji nodded darkly. "Less difficult than cleaning the bodies of the Kakita from the wreckage of their palace. Damn the courtiers. Yoshi, you fool—you've not stopped the Crab, you've released them. Whatever games you play in that court of yours, you haven't played well enough." Muttering foully, Uji summoned his men forward to give them the bad news. "Damn all courtiers and their faith in words." Fewer than five days ago, he had received word from Yoshi that the Crab had been stopped south of the pass. Something must have happened to change that. Even as angry as he was, Uji knew that it was not typical of Yoshi to exaggerate, or to fail so badly.

Something else had freed the Crab from the dictates of the Imperial Court, and whatever it was, the damage had already been done. Ten days to reach Kyuden Kakita or the lands to the south would be covered in flame and death.

"Even if we are in time, my lord, will our men be enough?" Ritenu's question was soft, meant for Uji alone. It would not do for their men to see doubt. Less than a hundred men stood with them, the remainder of all the northern units of the Crane. The group was small, but their eyes were as hard as stone.

"We will have to be, Ritenu-san," was Uji's dour response. "We have to be."

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Kyuden Kakita stood on a wide hill, the forests of the Crane surrounding it like a mother's sheltering arms. In Uji's childhood memories it had been a place of laughter. Today, the laughter was dead. The ground shuddered with the sound of marching feet.

To the north, the Crab army swarmed, less than a day from the walls of the Crane palace. The cheers and war cries of the Crab shook the heavens, and their feet echoed like thunder against the cold ground. Their general marched with his men, needing no horse to place his eyes above the rest. Hida Yakamo towered above his men. On thick shoulders he carried a mighty club, like the tree trunk of an ogre.

In gray and blue, the Crab armies chanted as they marched. The chant seemed impossibly low, like wind echoing through a thick tunnel of earth. From the woods nearby, troops carried lumber for siege engines and battering rams. The army stretched wide from Beiden, its men filling the valley passes like a swelling tide.

That was not the worst of it.

By their side slithered creatures of the far-distant south— the Shadowlands. Demons raised their heads. Great teeth clamped down on air. Wide nostrils smelled the flesh of men. Hundreds of goblins crawled and chattered among the greater beasts, cowering lest their masters reach down and tear them to ribbons for food. Behind them, more oni marched, their eyes bright and claws stained with blood. It was an unholy alliance: the empire's protectors, freed from their wall and marching beside the very beasts that they had warred against for generations.

Kisada must have gone mad.

Goblins, green and long-eared, wore mockeries of samurai armor, scavenged from the corpses of the dead. They carried weapons made of bone and charred iron, and their feet slapped the rocky ground without rhythm. A parody of the brave Crab samurai who led the way, the goblins cawed and capered. They marched only when their tremendous warmongers shoved them forward, lashing them with whips or tearing them with claws. Better the warmonger's whip, certainly, than the sharp teeth of the oni that marched at the army's rear.

Only the courage of the Daidoji men had given them the fleetness they had needed to reach the walls of the palace before the sun rose on the tenth day. Regardless of their station, their honor, or their lives, the Daidoji raced through the Kakita forest by hidden path and secret ravine.

Charging toward the golden doors of the palace, Uji screamed the name of his house.

Doji Kuwanan came to the battlements.

Uji waved his blue banner three times in the age-old signal of the Crane.

The archers withdrew from the top of the walls. Kuwanan raised a silver flag and signaled the men to come ahead. The sinking sun flashed from Kuwanan's gauntleted fist. With a wave of his hand, the Doji motioned to the gatekeepers. Metal shrieked against wood. The gates moved, opening to allow the Daidoji inside. Troops raced into Kyuden Kakita. They panted and fell to their knees well inside the palace walls. It took a few minutes for all of Uji's men to rush in from the woods, but the palace's gates remained open until all had arrived.

"Seal the wall!" Kuwanan cried.

As the last of Uji's men stumbled into the main courtyard, the gates of Kakita palace swung closed. Men slid a series of thick bolts against the heavy oak doors.

By morning, the Crab would arrive, their massive army growing in number as they swarmed down the Kakita fields.

"Where is the Lady of the Doji?" Uji panted, darkness invading the corners of his eyes. He stumbled, and Kuwanan moved to support him. Shaking off the offending hand, Uji gripped Kuwanan's wrist. The Doji prince's eyes were haunted, shadowed like the stormy sky.

Uji shook his head to clear it. "Tell me she's not in the palace. By the Fortunes, Kuwanan!"

"No ... Uji-san ..."

Angry and exhausted, Uji could hear the cries of the Crab armies marching closer to Kyuden Kakita's gates. "Where is Doji Ameiko-gozen? There is still time. A contingent of men can take her to Kyuden Doji, where she will be safe."

"She is gone, Uji." It was all Kuwanan had to say.

Uji sank to his knees, panting with exhaustion. The last of the gate locks slid into place. A massive iron bar sealed the thick oak doors, braced to withstand the inevitable assault of the battering rams.

Silently, Kuwanan reached into his obi, withdrawing a small pouch of folded rice paper. Opening it, he handed the Daidoji general a shining length of black hair, cut cleanly by a dagger's blade.

For a moment, Uji stared dumbly, not comprehending. Then, Kuwanan lifted his other hand.

In it was the tanto that the Daidoji general had given Ameiko.

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During the night, the Crab camped outside the gates of the palace. They waited only for dawn to bring enough light to start the siege. In somber gray and black, the Crab waited. Their weapons shone like small fires in the glare of the rising sun. Among their troops, Uji could see the mon of the Kuni and Kaiu gathered beside Hida and Hiruma forces—the great families of the Crab arrayed for battle. Yakamo led a

force that numbered easily fifteen thousand men.

Uji did not fear the samurai, but the creatures with them.

An oni howled as the light of the sun crested the horizon. The beast lifted a huge, fanged head atop its long, wormlike body. Three pairs of claws reached out toward the dawn. A segmented pink tail thrashed among nearby samurai. The beast shrieked with a voice that sounded like dying children. Behind it, another oni snarled, reaching for a goblin that had the misfortune of walking nearby. A slash of dripping black claws, and the goblin was in two pieces. The oni stuffed them one by one into its mouth. Its gelatinous belly rippled with meat and armor. Its body was laced in scars laden with pus and gangrene. The demon did not seem to care. Sucking the blood from its fingers, it poked angrily at the towering worm beast and yowled.